Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. During this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote "Family Bible" and recorded the song "Lumberjack" in 1956. He also worked as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Vancouver and nearby Portland, Oregon. In 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas, after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls", "Pretty Paper", and "Crazy". In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price's band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album, ...And Then I Wrote. Due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas. The ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.
In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to outlaw country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. During the mid-1980s, while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like "On the Road Again", "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", and "Pancho and Lefty", he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
In 1990, Nelson's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed $32 million. The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?; the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelson's assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, and released albums every year. Reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk.
Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television. Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is in favor of marijuana legalization. On the environmental front, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas.
Nelson uses a variety of music styles to create his own distinctive blend of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk. His "unique sound", which uses a "relaxed, behind-the-beat singing style and gut-string guitar" and his "nasal voice and jazzy, off-center phrasing", has been responsible for his wide appeal, and has made him a "vital icon in country music", influencing the "new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s".
In 1969, the Baldwin company gave Nelson an amplifier and guitar with their "Prismatone" pickup. During a show in Helotes, Texas, Nelson left the guitar on the floor of the stage, and it was later stepped on by a drunk man. He sent it to be repaired in Nashville by Shot Jackson, who told Nelson that the damage was too great. Jackson offered him a Martin N-20 Classical guitar, and, at Nelson's request, moved the pickup to the Martin. Nelson purchased the guitar unseen for $750 and named it after Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger". The next year Nelson rescued the guitar from his burning ranch.
Constant strumming with a guitar pick over the decades has worn a large sweeping hole into the guitar's body near the sound hole—the N-20 has no pick-guard since classical guitars are meant to be played fingerstyle instead of with picks. Its soundboard has been signed by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, ranging from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches. The first signature on the guitar was Leon Russell's, who asked Nelson initially to sign his guitar. When Nelson was about to sign it with a marker, Russell requested him to scratch it instead, explaining that the guitar would be more valuable in the future. Interested in the concept, Nelson requested Russell to also sign his guitar. In 1991, during his process with the IRS, Nelson was worried that Trigger could be auctioned off, stating: "When Trigger goes, I'll quit". He asked his daughter, Lana, to take the guitar from the studio before any IRS agent arrived there, and then deliver it to him in Maui. Nelson then concealed the guitar in his manager's house until his debt was paid off in 1993.
Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund raisers to benefit farmers. In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress. In 2018 The Texas Institute of Letters inducted him among its members for his songwriting. He was included by Rolling Stone on its 100 Greatest Singers and 100 Greatest Guitarists lists.
Wabash Cannon Ball
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the wide Pacific shore
To the queen of flowing mountains
For the hills and by the shore
She's mighty tall and handsome
And she's known quite well by all
She came down from Birmingham
On the Wabash Cannonball
To the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodland
Through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine
And the lonesome hoboes call
No changes can be taken
On the Wabash Cannonball
Now here's to daddy Claxton
May his name forever stand
He'll always be remembered
In the ports throughout the land
His earthly race is over
And the curtain round him falls
We'll carry him home to Glory
On the Wabash Cannonball
Well now listen to the jingle
To the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodland
Through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine
And the lonesome hoboes call
No changes can be taken
On the Wabash Cannonball
Well listen to the jingle
To the rumble and the roar
As she glides along the woodland
Through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine
And the lonesome hoboes call
No changes can be taken
On the Wabash Cannonball
The Wabash Cannonball is a popular American folk song that has been recorded by several artists, including Willie Nelson. The song describes the journey of a train named Wabash Cannonball, which travels from the east coast to the west coast of the United States, passing through mountains, hills, and forests.
The first stanza of the song talks about the vastness of America and the train's route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific shore. The second line of the stanza refers to the Appalachian Mountains (queen of flowing mountains) and the Allegheny Mountains (hills and by the shore), which are located on the train's route. The third line describes the train as mighty tall and handsome, indicating its importance and grandeur. The fourth line states that the train originated from Birmingham, a city in Alabama in the south of the United States.
The chorus of the song talks about the train's unique sound and how it travels through the countryside. The rush of the engine and the horn can be heard from a distance, and the hoboes (homeless wanderers) who hear the sound can identify that it is the Wabash Cannonball train.
The last stanza of the song pays tribute to a man named Daddy Claxton, who is believed to be a railroad worker or a well-known personality in the railway industry. The stanza talks about his death and how his body will be carried back to his hometown on the Wabash Cannonball train.
Overall, the song is a celebration of American railroad culture and values, including hard work, camaraderie, and perseverance.
Line by Line Meaning
From the great Atlantic ocean
The journey of the Wabash Cannonball starts from the vast stretch of the Atlantic ocean
To the wide Pacific shore
The railroad stretches all the way to the Pacific shore on the other end of the continent
To the queen of flowing mountains
As the train moves, it passes through the majestic mountain ranges known for their grandeur and the mighty rivers that flow down their slopes
For the hills and by the shore
The train passes through hilly regions and along the seashore as it proceeds
She's mighty tall and handsome
The Wabash Cannonball is a majestic piece of machinery that is a sight to behold
And she's known quite well by all
The train is famous and familiar to people across the country
She came down from Birmingham
The Wabash Cannonball originated from Birmingham, Alabama
On the Wabash Cannonball
The train is named after itself, Wabash Cannonball, which it thunders along on
Well now listen to the jingle
The sound of train tracks bounces off the surrounding objects creating a rhythmic jingle
To the rumble and the roar
The mighty engine produces a loud and magnificent roar
As she glides along the woodland
The train moves with ease through woodland areas, traversing curves and elevations with grace
Through the hills and by the shore
The train passes through hills while moving by the coast
Hear the mighty rush of the engine
The sound produced by the engine is awe-inspiring and heartening
And the lonesome hoboes call
Travelling hoboes raise their voice to catch a ride on the train in hopes of finding a better destiny
No changes can be taken
The train must remain on its course, stopping for neither passengers nor changes in its path
On the Wabash Cannonball
The Wabash Cannonball is on an unstoppable journey that it must complete without changing course
Now here's to daddy Claxton
An ode to Daddy Claxton who passed away
May his name forever stand
Wishing the deceased man's name a permanent place in the memory
He'll always be remembered
Daddy Claxton will not be forgotten and will always be remembered
In the ports throughout the land
His remembrance will spread throughout such that the people in every port will know of him
His earthly race is over
Daddy Claxton has completed his journey on earth and is no more
And the curtain round him falls
As he takes his final bow, the curtain falls, signifying the end of his act
We'll carry him home to Glory
The people are taking Daddy Claxton's body to his final resting place
On the Wabash Cannonball
His final journey will be on the magnificent train, Wabash Cannonball
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: A.P. CARTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind